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A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

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Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#41

Post by A_D_E_P_T »

Aurornis wrote: post #11
ghostDancer wrote: post #5

Nothing says capitalism and free market like good extortion on health products and services. That's the way to go USA.

There is no free market at play here. This is the result of FDA regulations not allowing anyone to sell it unless they did a New Drug Application first, which could cost a billion or more. Therefore nobody in the free market was allowed to sell it without putting up the capital first, which they have to collect back now. You could actually order this from amazon.de up until recently and have it shipped to you. That s…

This is true. When you look at actually free markets -- like the gray markets in bodybuilding drugs, "nootropics," peptides, etc. -- you'll find that there's usually a race to the bottom on price, and that everything is easily affordable out of pocket. Quality also tends to be okay, as lab reports are one of the primary ways that customers rank and differentiate between brands.

And these aren't necessarily old pharma hand-me-downs. There are lots of novel and strange drugs (9-MBC, lol) that you can buy for next to nothing.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#42

Post by zuppy »

Aurornis wrote: post #8

FYI for anyone who isn't familiar with the wacky US insurance situation: Nobody in the US actually pays $800 for the drug. That's the "list price" for insurance companies to pay. Even insurance companies don't pay that price because they negotiate their own rates with the drug companies, which are lower. Then the drug companies come in and offer a "savings card" which you apply at the pharmacy like another layer of i…

what about the poor people? the ones that can't really afford insurance. i've heard multiple times that epipen prices are crazy expensive and that's a really basic drug.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#43

Post by terminalshort »

If a drug isn't one of the following it should be available over the counter.

1. heinously addictive

2. incredibly dangerous when not used exactly correctly

3. an antibiotic (due to the resistance externality)

And for drugs that do meet one of these conditions, doctors should be able to write lifetime prescriptions for cases where the medication is used to treat a permanent condition. This probably covers 95% of non-antibiotic prescriptions. The savings from removing the gatekeepers in terms of time and money would be massive and the costs would be minimal.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#44

Post by dotancohen »

averageRoyalty wrote: post #24
Insanity wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that might be worse than just having the high price. Such a kafka-esque systems just to get medicine.

Absolutely. I'd prefer to go to the pharmacy and just pay my $20 and go.

Do you prefer sunny (Greece) or snowy (Norway)? You can just pay your $20 and go. It is an option.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#45

Post by autoexec »

philip1209 wrote: post #38

What's to stop congress from passing a blanket "most favored nation" law for VA + medicare on all pricing, inclusive of insurance rates and discounts? Seems like it would be fair and useful.

The same thing that stops them from just joining the rest of the first world nations and giving us universal healthcare. Greed.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#47

Post by dyauspitr »

khannn wrote: post #22
brianherbert wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These "savings cards" have a maximum annual benefit applied to them so for those on insurance that do not cover those expensive medications or who are self-paying use up the benefits before year end and do in fact eventually pay full sticker price.

I was on a blood thinner and the medication was very pricey. Didn't have insurance and the "savings card" covered fuck all unless you had insurance. There are three blood thinners on the US market and they all cost a lot.

If you don’t have insurance, you’re essentially fucked in the US but this thread is not referencing that situation. My CAT scan was billed for $10,000 but what I paid was about $200 with insurance. Without insurance I would owe $10k.

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#48

Post by SkiFire13 »

aucisson_masque wrote: post #9

in some part of europe, we have national healthcare so basically people don't think they are paying their medications, like there was some magic money. in that case, you don't care if you drug cost 10€ or 2000€ because you aren't spending a single € from your own wallet, at least if you don't factor in taxes. Contrary to the USA where it's a much more responsible market, people do pay for the medications or they get…

> I would think that americans would be much more vigilant about what medication they take, the price it cost, and so would have much lower pricing. That's just how free market work, and technically there are many medication manufacturer and many customer.

(Not american) This assumes they have a choice, no? Do these medications have real alternatives?

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#49

Post by dotancohen »

autoexec wrote: post #37
theMMaI wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The absolute miniscule volume

How many gallons of Miebo/Evotears do you think are manufactured every year?

Multiply that by the t in ppt. How many trillions of gallons of water do you think an average city uses every year?

Re: A $20 drug in Europe requires a prescription and $800 in the U.S.

#50

Post by Beijinger »

jaggederest wrote: post #3

It's a very interesting drug. There are a lot of concerns right now around PFAS in water supplies, for example, and Miebo/Evotears are pure PFAS (perfluorohexyloctane) that's instilled directly in the eye, giving you a dose somewhere around a million times higher than levels of concern in drinking water. But it is absolutely revolutionary if you have dry eyes. Quotes include "I feel like my eye is actually too wet no…

You could try this:

Visomitin (Emoxipine/Mexidol) eye drops are a Russian-developed antioxidant medication known for treating dry eyes, fatigue, radiation damage, and improving vision, working to protect eye cells from damage (oxidative stress), but it's not widely available or FDA-approved in the US, requiring international purchase or specific prescriptions, often used for cataracts or post-surgery recovery, focusing on cell protection rather than just lubrication like many Western OTC drops.

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